From Sashimi to Zen-in:The Evolution of Concurrent Engineering at Fuji Xerox

This case study examines the evolution of R&D knowledge management at Japan’s business equipment maker Fuji Xerox, from the sashimi system, a Japanese origin of concurrent engineering, to its successor Zen-in system, which is composed mainly of a real high-tech discussion room equipped with databases that provide technical information and two 70-inch displays that shows virtual but real-size, three-dimensional graphic models. We found that Fuji Xerox has chosen the “hybridization strategy” that mixes human-based and IT-based knowledge-sharing techniques. We also argue that concurrent engineering provides not only efficiency benefits but also positive effects on group and organizational creativity. Finally we present a conceptual framework of “how concurrent engineering works;” i.e., uncertainty and diversity necessitate concurrency which produces such benefits as efficiency and creativity, and which in turn realizes product integrity.